The Tithe Test

Is ten percent of your gross income to be given to the local church - for the rest of your life? What do you really know about this teaching - Biblically? Well, now you can find out!

Here are 20 questions (worth 5 points each). Normally, a score of sixty percent (12 correct of the 20) would be a passing grade. But, in this case, I want you to learn about this subject until you score 100%! Why? Well, if you average making $50K a year, after 50 years, you will have given $250K to the local church. That is a quarter of a million dollars! It seems sensible to me that you should ask some questions about this - and know some answers. Actually, it is wrong for you to give ten percent of your gross income to anybody without knowing for sure it is God's will ... 100% sure. That's why I want you to work on this until you score 100!

So, ... get your pen and paper and take this 3 minute test right now. I know you are not going to cheat. Go!

1. How many Bible authors wrote commands about the tithe - its purpose, amount and procedures?

2. Who are they?

3. What was done with the third and sixth year tithe? Who had access to it?

4. Can you explain the "tithe cycle" of the Israelites?

5. What was done with the tithe every seventh year?

6. Explain Abram's tithe. What did Abram give Melchizedek?

7. Did any of the Levites tithe? If so, to whom and how much?

8. How much money did the tithers give to the Levitical Priests?

9. In the "to the Levites" tithing years, did all the tithe go to the Levites?

10. What group did Jacob give his tenth to?

11. What were the conditions God must meet before Jacob would give that tenth?

12. When was the tithe "rediscovered?"

13. Who is credited with that "rediscovery?"

14. What was the catalyst for that "rediscovery?"

15. Is tithing the number one responsibility for the Christian and his/her money?

16. What kind of curse should the Christian expect for failing to tithe (Mal 3:17-23)?

17. Where did Jesus tell Christians to bring their tithe?

18. Where did Paul, or the other New Testament writers, tell Christians to bring the tithe?

19. When the Corinthians, and others, were making their collection for the saints, what was done with that collection before Paul and company took it to Judea?

20. Can the tithe be given to parachurch ministries?

Now, before rushing down to grade yourself, let's address one other little item. If someone is telling you that God commands 10% of your gross income go to the local church for life - that person should be willing to answer a few questions (like ... maybe twenty?). And if that person fails to score 60%, well, ... where I come from, that constitutes an "F." Should you be expected to yield to such "expertise?" But, even if expected ... should you?

How to administer "The Tithe Test" to others.

1. Try this out on a couple of friends (I did). It's fun.

2. Let your "testee" know you took a test about the tithe - and share your score. Tell them you are curious how well they can do. My friends jumped at the chance to put up a better score.

3. Either place a copy of this test before them, or give it orally. In either case, let them write down their answers. The real goal is that the questions be given in order - right then - like a "pop quiz." No questions are to be taken home - or given in advance.

4. Grade it on the spot (they will want to know how they did).

The Answers

"The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on folly" (Pr 15:14).

To calculate the score, count the number of correct answers and multiply by 5.

1. One.

2. Moses. In Malachi, God was speaking and simply reiterated the commands in the Law.

3. It was kept in the local town. It was for the local Levite, alien, orphan, and widow.

4. Year one, two, four and five were taken to the designated place (eventually Jerusalem). Year three and six - see question 3 answer. Year seven - see below.

5. There wasn't one. There was not one on year fifty (Year of Jubilee) either.

6. He gave him 10% of the choicest spoils of a bunch of stuff he had no intention of keeping anyway. He gave nothing of his own possessions.

7. Yes. Those Levites not of Aaron's family gave a tithe of the tithe they received. They gave it to the priests of Aaron's family.

8. None. The tithe was never money.

9. The tithe of year one, two, four and five were shared by the tither with the Levite in a celebratory meal when the tithe was given. What was left over stayed with the Levite. In year three and six, it appears the tither deposited the whole amount in the local town without partaking of any of it.

10. There was no "group" to give it to of which we know. If your testee responds with, "God," count that as a correct answer. The testee is still going to flunk.

11. God had to be with him, keep him on his journey, give him food to eat, give him garments to wear, and return him safely to his father's house. At that point, God would be his God. The tenth came (we assume) twenty years later. It was a vow fulfillment.

12. After the Bill of Rights was adopted in the United States.

13. American Theologians in the Higher Criticism of Systematic Theology.

14. The loss of the church's ability to tax citizens (The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights) caused a financial crisis in the church. That led to this "rediscovery."

15. No. Family responsibilities come first. There is no tithe for Christians anyway.

16. There aren't any. Christians are not Jews under Law.

17. He didn't, because there isn't one.

18. They didn't, because there isn't one.

19. It was saved - probably at home by each contributor.

20. There is no such thing as a parachurch ministry, and there is no tithe for the Christian either. All the assumptions in this question are nonsense.

These answers are correct.

The teaching being presented today - is not the tithe of the Bible. In fact, this "new teaching" is totally foreign to the Bible. An important Biblical teaching and word (tithe) has been stolen away - and applied to this new, and Biblically foreign, teaching.

God does give clear directives for the use of your money. But those purposes are not a part of this "new teaching." This teaching is extortion in the Name of, and by the authority of, Jesus Christ. But, it is not just the extortioner who will be held to account. The duped one is accountable too. It is ultimately our responsibility to learn God's will for us - especially when it is written in black and white. And in this matter, "I have not spoken in secret, in some dark land" (Isa 45:19). The Bible addresses the actual tithe (as well as God's designs on our money now) quite clearly. It just needs to be read.

So, how did you do? Are you satisfied with your present knowledge level?